1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicle hazard warning lights and, more particularly, to the enhancement of such lights to become continuous and thus give more effective warnings that a disabled or stalled vehicle is a hazard to other vehicles approaching from the rear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present applicant's assignee Tritel, LLC received U.S. Pat. No. 7,352,278 B2 (“'278 patent”) on Apr. 1, 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. This patent, entitled Vehicle Hazard Warning Lights, describes an enhancement of hazard lights by transmitting pulsed electrical current from a vehicle's 4-way emergency flasher not only to the 4-way emergency lamps, normally the four front and back turn signals, but also to a vehicle's Center High Mounted Stop Light (“CHMSL”).
As a result, a flashing triangle is displayed when the 4-way flasher circuit is turned on, instead of the conventional hazard lights which normally are the horizontally aligned left and right turn signal lamps in the vehicle's rear. Thus, the flashing triangle gives a more effective warning signal due to the much larger geometry created by the triangle, as explained in the '278 Patent.
However, there is an inherent problem in the prior hazard light system because its triangular shape discontinues when the vehicle's service brakes are engaged. This happens because an automatic flow of a continuous electrical current from the brake light circuit enters the CHMSL, which will override and suppress the pulsed current simultaneously being transmitted to the CHMSL from the 4-way flasher circuit.
This feature was a necessity since the regulations of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) have long mandated that the CHMSL must be illuminated when the service brakes are engaged. Compliance with this requirement in the '278 Patent system would cause the flashing triangular hazard signal to fluctuate randomly between triangular and conventional double horizontal emergency lamps when the vehicle's service brakes are engaged and disengaged, as needed by an approaching driver to safely slow or stop a vehicle in an emergency situation. These fluctuations could cause uncertainty or confusion to drivers approaching the hazard flashing vehicles by wondering why or how such alterations are happening and what they signify.
These problems should not be disregarded in view of the awful carnage that occurs every year on USA roads and highways from rear end collisions. NHTSA statistics indicate that annually there are 1.5 million rear end crashes that cause 2,000 deaths, 950,000 injuries and $18.3 of economic losses (Google: “ITS6 IVHS Countermeasures”). These staggering figures are powerful reasons why every potential or possible disadvantage in the '278 Patent hazard light system should be addressed and overcome to achieve certainty that the maximum efficacy of the system is available. It is believed that this will significantly reduce the huge losses of life, health, property and economics that rear end collisions yearly generate.